CLAIMED BY THE RUTHLESS ALPHA

Darius POV

I straightened my spine and went back to work.

By the time I carried a tray of stew and fresh bread up the creaking stairs to the Alpha’s bedroom, the sun had set. My body ached. My mind spun with plans.

Darius was waiting.

Shirtless again, standing by the window with his back to me, moonlight carving shadows across the powerful lines of his shoulders and back. Scars crisscrossed his skin old battles, old pain.

He turned when I entered, emerald eyes immediately locking onto mine. The tension in the room thickened, charged with everything unsaid: hatred, desire, suspicion, need.

“Set it down,” he ordered softly.

I did, on the small table near the bed. When I straightened, he was closer than I expected.

“Eat with me,” he said. Not an order this time. Almost a request.

I swallowed hard. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because I can’t stop.” His hand rose, fingers tracing the edge of my jaw with surprising gentleness. “And because something in you is calling to something in me. Even if we both hate it.”

My breath hitched. The slow burn between us flared hotter, more dangerous than any threat from the pack outside.

One day left.

And I wasn’t sure if I wanted to run from him anymore or toward the fire he promised.

“Finish cleaning. Then come to my room. We’re eating together tonight.” His tone left no room for argument. “And Seraphine? If anyone else touches you again, I won’t hold back. I don’t care what image it creates for the pack.”

He turned and walked away, leaving me standing in the cooling evening air with Leo’s groans fading behind me and my heart hammering against my ribs.

I touched the locket, feeling the small dent where the chain had nearly snapped. One day left after tonight.

I had to move faster.

As I limped back inside, I caught sight of Jax watching from the tree line, his sly smile visible even at a distance. He raised a hand in a mocking wave.

The game had changed. Darius’s protection was a double edged blade it kept me alive but painted me as his weakness. And in a pack like this, weaknesses were destroyed

Seraphine set the tray down with more care than the simple stew and bread deserved. The scent of her peaches, defiance, and a faint trace of blood from reopened wounds, hit me harder than it should. My wolf paced restlessly beneath my skin, urging me closer, demanding I pin her down and finish what the air between us kept promising.

She straightened, silver eyes wary. “I brought dinner. That’s all.”

“Sit.” I gestured to the chair opposite mine.

Her jaw tightened, that stubborn spark flashing. For a submissive wolf, she fought her nature with a ferocity that both infuriated and fascinated me. Most would have dropped their gaze by now. She met mine like she wanted to claw it out.

“I’m not hungry.”

“Liar.” I pulled the chair out for her. “Your stomach’s been growling since you walked in. Sit, Seraphine. Or I’ll make you.”

A beat of silence. Then she lowered herself into the chair with stiff dignity, wincing as her ribs protested. The sight of fresh bruises on her cheek and the way she favored her left side sent fresh rage curling through my veins. Leo was lucky I hadn’t torn his head off. Part of me still wanted to.

I sat across from her, the small table feeling far too intimate in the dim lamplight of the bedroom. Outside, the compound had gone quiet, too quiet. Jax would be stirring trouble. Tera plotting. But right now, all that mattered was the woman in front of me who smelled like secrets and salvation.

“Eat,” I said, softer this time.

She picked up the spoon and took a small bite, eyes never leaving my face. “Happy?”

“Not even close.” I leaned back, watching her. The dark waves of her hair fell over one shoulder, brushing the swell of her breasts beneath that thin black shirt. My c**k stirred at the memory of pressing against her earlier, of the little moan she’d tried to hide. “Why did you stop me from killing Leo?”

She swallowed. “Because dead men don’t suffer enough.”

The words carried weight. Personal weight. I narrowed my eyes. “You hate him.”

“Everyone hates Leo.” She shrugged, but her knuckles whitened around the spoon. “He’s a bully. A coward who only feels strong when he’s breaking someone smaller.”

“Like you.”

Her silver gaze hardened. “I’m not small.”

“No,” I murmured, letting my eyes drift deliberately down her body. “You’re not. But you’re submissive. And this pack eats submissives alive.”

She set the spoon down with a quiet clink. “Why do you care? You came here for revenge. For Eden. For Melody. I’m just the key you’re trying to turn.”

The mention of Melody twisted something deep in my chest. Sweet, gentle Melody, my fated mate, gone before I could even claim her properly. The guilt never slept.

“You helped Eden escape,” I said, stating it as fact this time. “And you helped Melody try to leave. Dom found records. Bus tickets. A gas station clerk who remembered two scared girls and the dark-haired woman who paid for everything and stayed behind.”

Seraphine went very still. The scent of her fear spiked, but so did something else resolve.

“Even if that were true,” she said carefully, “why would I admit it to the man whose family dragged Eden back to her abuser?”

My hand tightened around my mug until the ceramic creaked. “I didn’t know. Not the full extent. My father” I stopped, jaw clenching. “He believed pack alliances mattered more than one girl’s tears. I was away handling territory disputes. By the time I returned, Melody was already dead and Eden had vanished again.”

Seraphine studied me like I was a predator she couldn’t quite figure out. “And now you’re here to burn everything down.”

“Something like that.” I reached across the table and caught her chin, tilting her face toward the light. The bruise on her cheekbone was darkening. “But the fire keeps circling back to you. Why stay, Seraphine? A submissive wolf in a pack of monsters. You could’ve run with them.”

Her lips parted. For a second I thought she might tell me the truth. Then her walls slammed back up.

“Some cages are worth staying in until the right moment.”

“Revenge,” I guessed. The word tasted right. “Who did they take from you?”

She pulled away from my touch. “Everyone.”

The raw pain in that single word hit harder than I expected. My wolf whined, wanting to comfort what he already saw as ours. I pushed the feeling down. I’d lost one mate to this pack. I wouldn’t survive losing another.

We finished eating in charged silence. Every glance, every shift of her body wound the tension tighter. When she stood to clear the tray, I rose with her, crowding her against the edge of the table.

“Darius” she started, voice breathy.

I braced my hands on either side of her hips. “You’re shaking again. Not just from fear this time.”

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